A recent event at the National Concert Hall commemorated the centenary of the death in 1924 of Giacomo Puccini through his Messa di Gloria. An early work, the piece still has considerable merit to its credit. However, I felt the respectable performance under visiting conductor Carlo Rizzi with tenor and bass soloists – Gwyn Hughes…
October and eyes and ears turn to Wexford where the town’s seventy-third Opera Festival runs from October 18 until November 2. Now, one might be forgiven in thinking the most often performed composers in Wexford might be either Verdi or Puccini but, in fact, the honours fall on Gaetano Donizetti. Born in Bergamo in 1797,…
In welcoming the audience to the opening of the 2024/25 season at the National Concert Hall, Chairperson Maura McGrath and CEO Robert Read pointed out that the season would be “one of the most ambitious to date comprising more than sixty concerts and other events, showcasing some of the world’s most exciting and dynamic musicians…
This month commemorates the bicentenary of the birth of the Austrian organist/composer Anton Bruckner. The anniversary was celebrated at the NCH last week through his 4th Symphony (Romantic) played by the visiting Bavarian Radio Orchestra, one of Europe’s finest broadcasting ensembles, under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Born in Ansfelden in Upper Austria, Bruckner…
As promised last time round here is a little more about Waterford-born composer William Vincent Wallace (1812-1865). Now, it must be remembered Wallace revelled in story telling with one commentator claiming he was ‘charming but unprincipled, and his habitual untruthfulness makes it hard to determine real facts about him’. Wallace definitely was in Mexico City…
Time was when William Vincent Wallace was a household name with his music gracing many an operatic stage and concert venue and being played and sung in many a homely parlour. However, time and fashions change and what is enjoyed by one generation may well be relegated to obscurity by the next. With soprano Rachel…
While this may be a time of relaxation when holidays are in full sway, for those involved with the Kilkenny Arts Festival that runs from August 8 to 18, it means a particularly busy period. The principal feature of the 2024 festival will be a short opera and monodrama by Emma O’Halloran, Trade and Mary…
Dublin’s fondness for Handel’s music goes back to 1742 when the composer lived in Abbey Street. He had brought with him from London the score of his oratorio Messiah, which had its first performance in the Fishamble Street Musick Rooms on April 13 that year. Handel directed the performance from the harpsichord with London-born Dublin-domiciled…
The 2023/24 NSO subscription series drew to a close recently with a particularly satisfying performance at the National Concert Hall of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. The occasion, with highly agreeable soloists Miah Persson, soprano, Jennifer Johnston, mezzo, Valentyn Dytiuk, tenor and Evgeny Stavinsky, bass, also involved the National Symphony Chorus under Jaime Martín. The performance…
June brings with it a number of special musical events not least the ‘Pipewroks International Organ and Choral Festival’ and the ‘Dun Laoghaire summer Sunday evening organ recitals’ in St Michael’s Church. The former opened its doors on June 19 afternoon with a master class in Milltown’s St Philip’s Church directed by Geoffrey Webber, a…